A fire occurred at Purdue University’s Hampton Civil Engineering building this morning. The entire building was evacuated after smoke alarms detected the fire at roughly 11:30 a.m. Aaron Bukowski is a Junior in the College of Department of Physics and Astronomy. He was in the building when the fire began.
“We were working in our lab and we smelled something burning and the fire alarms ended up going off,” said Bukowski. “They evacuated the whole building and by the time we got out was maybe two minutes before the fire department showed up. Then we saw them go in then they came back out, put their gear on, and went back in. Now their squeegeeing water off the floor.”
By roughly 12:15 p.m. three marked police vehicles were present on the scene, as well as three possible unmarked vehicles. Other safety vehicles present included one fire engine, one ambulance, one fire command, as well as at least seven Purdue University vehicles.
Kevin M. Ply is a fire chief for the Purdue University Fire Department. He was among those that responded to the call. “The fire department was dispatched here on an active fire alarm for Hampton at 11:14 a.m,” said Ply. “One of our ambulances was out on campus. They arrived at 11:15 a.m. so a minute later. When they arrived the building was being evacuated.” Ply said, “the fire alarm panel indicated an active sprinkler head in room 1268. When they proceeded to that area they encountered smoke and water coming from out of the door.”
After informing the rest of the first responders, they forced entry to the room, put out the fire, and confirmed that it had not spread to the rest of the building. There was “minimal damage” according to Ply. Room 1268 is a computer lab in Hampton. Ply said the fire only affected a limited portion of the room. He confirmed there were no occupants in the room at the time and the room was secured.
“The fire was extinguished pretty quickly, we got to sprinklers shut down pretty quickly,” said Ply. “We’re working with the police department to determine the cause. Right now, it doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious but we’re going to try to determine exactly what the cause was.”
The old section of Hampton has been reopened, as well as parts of the new section where the fire occurred. The room is expected to reopen after the police department concludes its investigation.
“The key thing is we had a quick response, the sprinkler system did its job and contained the fire from spreading,” said Ply. “So everything worked the way it should.”
Hamden High School students were briefly evacuated Friday after fire broke out in the nursery/daycare room, fire officials said. No one was injured as a result of the fire, but one teacher did suffer a minor injury attempting to open a window to help clear smoke from the building, a fire official said.
The fire was reported at 7:41 a.m. in the south end of the building. The Hamden High School administration and staff had already started with an orderly evacuation of all students, assisted by both HHS security and Hamden Police Officers, fire officials said in a news release.
The evacuation was taking place as the first HFD apparatus arrived on scene. The entire student body was relocated to the football stadium away from fire department activity. Fire officials said an activated sprinkler head in the nursery helped contain the fire, which was extinguished at 7:53 a.m.
Water damage from the activated sprinkler and fire department suppression was limited to the room or origin and adjacent hallway. The structure was ventilated to remove smoke and the products of combustion.
The entire school was metered by HFD personnel to ensure the safety of the atmosphere, according to the news release. At 8:55 a.m. students were allowed back to class. Hamden Fire Marshal Brian Dolan concluded that the area of fire origin was the stove in the nursery/day care room.
During this event, a second but unrelated fire was reported in an electrical shed adjacent to the Louis Astorino Skating Rink located at 595 Mix Avenue (in the rear of Hamden High School). This secondary alarm was reported at 8:04 a.m. by the Hamden Public Works Electrician working on scene, and was brought quickly under control by the responding units.
Deputy Fire Marshal Tim Lunn is investigating the fire, which appears to have originated in the electrical panel that controls the outdoor lighting at the facility. There were no injuries at this event.
A fire Thursday night damaged a studio in the Fine Arts Building at SUNY New Paltz, and the building will be closed until Monday, according to the college. The Graphic Design Thesis Show, from 4-7 p.m. Friday in the building’s rotunda, was scheduled to go on as planned, however, according to a message sent to students, staff and faculty.
The fire began in the building’s wood and sculpture studio, on the first floor, according to a statement from the college. There were no injuries. Firefighters responding to an automatic alarm and reports of smoke in the building discovered “heavy smoke and heat” in the first-floor hallway, the New Paltz Fire Department said Friday on its Facebook page.
They then found the blaze and extinguished it, the department said. The fire department credited “a well maintained sprinkler system” with containing the blaze to the room in which it began. The building’s fire alarm system was back in service Friday, according to the college.
An email sent to the college community Friday afternoon said the Fine Arts Building’s studios were closed to students but were expected to reopen Monday morning. No one will be allowed to work in the building until Monday as personnel repair water damage, the email stated. Information about how the fire might have started and what time it was reported was not immediately available
Reporting on lives and property saved by fire sprinklers
